A scheme to build 330 homes in a village undergoing a rapid expansion has been approved, on the condition that its residents can rely on public transport.

Darlington Borough Council's planning committee passed Albert Hill Properties plan for the estate in Middleton St George after being told it represented a planned approach to growth in Middleton St George and was a response to concerns over piecemeal housing schemes.

Labour leaders of the five councils that comprise the Tees Valley Combined Authority voted to back the move.

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

In Middleton St George - a three-minute drive from the airport - work to transform a 15-hectare site of grassland and haulage yards, south of Yarm Road and to the east of Chapel Street, will also go ahead.

The plans are also expected to include three shops and a primary school for more than 200 pupils.

The meeting heard no proposals had been submitted over the type of homes that would be built, but the estate was likely to include a range of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties.

Read More

An indicative masterplan of the site features an east-west walking route to allow the site to be connected to the village and the doctors' surgery and a new roundabout to replace the junction at Yarm Road and Middleton Back Road.

David Coates, the authority's head of planning, told members there had been significant criticism surrounding the need for people to drive to shops on other developments in Middleton St George, but the Albert Hill Properties plan indicated it could include three stores and a primary school for more than 200 children.

He said while it had been suggested the site would need to be served by a bus service every 30 minutes to be "truly sustainable", it would be unfair to level the £500,000 cost of this over five years solely on one estate and that it should be shared with another development.

Councillors were told the development would not be another case of land-banking, with planning agent Steve Hesmondhalgh saying the developer for the first 100 houses on the site was set to lodge detailed plans for the housing.

Read More

The meeting also heard, where possible, mature trees at the site would be retained, as would the existing public right of way and cycle route. Concerns were raised on behalf of the 190 elderly residents and 180 staff at the nearby Middleton Hall Retirement Village that the additional traffic on Yarm Road would affect safety.

Councillor Catherine Gilsenan, chairman of Middleton St George Parish Council, raised safety concerns over a potential conflict between cars turning on Chapel Street and a planned footpath leading from the road through the estate.

After planning committee members echoed the concerns, Mr Hesmondhalgh replied that there would be room to create a turning circle, if residents wished.

He said: "Nothing that we are doing will affect anybody's ability to turn a car round."